Ulster police survey to set base for efficient coverage

KINGSTON — A special panel will question the county's police on what killing off the sheriff's road patrol would mean to fighting crime in the county.

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By James Nani

recordonline.com

By James Nani

Posted Aug. 23, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By James Nani

Posted Aug. 23, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

KINGSTON — A special panel will question the county's police on what killing off the sheriff's road patrol would mean to fighting crime in the county.

But not everyone on the county Legislature's law enforcement efficiency commission liked the question.

"It's a self-serving question," argued Legislator Dave Donaldson, D-Kingston. "(It's) not really doing what the commission is charged with doing."

Donaldson felt the survey should be an exhaustive but simple inventory of things like staffing levels, budgets, special units, equipment and time spent on calls. Adding opinions early in the study would tarnish its objectiveness, Donaldson said.

But Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum and others wanted the question asked: What would happen if the sheriff's road patrol were reduced or eliminated?

The sheriff's road patrol isn't required by law, a fact that has loomed heavy on the nascent commission's task. It is especially critical since a battle over the county sales tax could mean the loss of millions of dollars in revenue to the county starting December.

The question is part of a lengthy quiz — six pages as of Thursday — to be filled out by the county's police agencies. Its aim is to give the commission a baseline of all the resources police agencies have in the county. That'll help frame the commission's task and eventually produce a report making recommendations of how to streamline law enforcement, both in efficiency and cost.

"I don't think we can move forward without a real solid inventory of what we have," said Legislator Ken Ronk, R-Shawangunk, who heads the commission.

Joshua Simons, who represented Gerald Benjamin of the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach at the meeting, said the survey can help produce data to find where in the county staffing may need to be increased or decreased.

Still, the commission's task is made more difficult because there's no tried and true method to measure how many cops an area needs.